Apple TV 3 rumored to be readying for March launch

There's a rumor going around that Apple could be preparing a second product launch to accompany the iPad 3 this March, and the current front-runner is Apple TV 3. Mark Gurman from 9to5Mac reports:

We’ve been hearing that supplies of the Apple TV are severely constrained, but it’s hard to see a reason for this besides an imminent refresh. We’ve been hitting hard with evidence for the past few months that suggests a new Apple TV is in development, and what better time to launch it than alongside the latest and greatest mobile iOS device?

Rumored new features center on 1080p content made possible by an updated chipset, perhaps the current Apple A5 dual-core, ARM Cortex A9, or even a next-generation Apple A5X or Apple A6 (whichever ships with the iPad 3).

What and how much 1080p content Apple will have available via iTunes to accompany the launch is unknown. What a new Apple TV 3 this march means, if anything, for rumors of a full-on Apple iTV television is also unknown.

The current, iOS-powered Apple TV 2 was announced in September of 2010. Apple TV 3 rumors have been swirling for a while now, beginning well before the 2011 holiday shopping quarter.

Reader comments

Apple TV 3 rumored to be readying for March launch

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So alot of people on here are concerned about the Apps. Once Mountain Lion comes out you'll be able to mirror your Mac to your TV. You can already mirror an I Pad or an I Phone to Apple TV so in essence you don't need any apps. You can stream movies or TV shows from Hulu or even your own video collection to Apple TV.

Honestly couldn't live with out my Apple TV. Love being able to stream my 866 movie collection and my 1,235 album music collection. Air Play is awesome for steaming youtube videos from my iPad. Can't wait till Mountain lion comes out so Air Play will get even better.

I've been ready to buy an ATV but have been holding out for the ATV3. Specificaly holding out for 1080p and more content partners (pandora, vevo, etc). Also an app store download apps such as pandora or games. The beginnings of a casual gamers console perhaps? I hope it doesn't disappoint.

This could be brilliant...
Retina IPad 3 w/ full screen 1080P using 802.11ac gigibit WiFi.
Apple TV with same specs.
Enter the world of no cables between the computer and the monitor.
Expect a release of monitors that have 802.11ac to follow, and an upgrade to Macs to support them.
Can you spell "disruptive"?

apple tv is such a useless piece of poorly built technology. I have had three die in a year. They just stop working. Cant connect them to the desktop to reinstall the os so i have to take another two hours to go to the nightmare of customer service that they call the apple store. This thing never worked properly, from not keeping a connection to lock ups and death. Not to mention the lack of apps and providers. Too many better options out there from roku to xbox and ps3. I would rather have access to more free content and lower price options on the others. Example episode of walking dead on itunes 2.99 same episode on amazon 1.99.

Sorry to hear you had such problems. The three I have have been amazing. Simple interface that my non-technical mom can use and the few times it has locked up, I've just had to power cycle from the remote (didn't want to get up an unplug). And you totally can hook it up to the computer and restore the OS if you need to. I jailbroke one and didn't find that too useful. Eventually updated it and then the NetFlix issue with certain servers wouldn't authenticate cropped up. Used the desktop connection to downgrade back to prior release until Netflix did something on their end go prevent the problem from re-surfacing.

Josh ,your post it utter bs simply because Apple has THE best customer service. When my ATV2 remote stopped working , I called them up and after 5 mins of trouble shooting the lady helping me said they'll replace the entire unit. No questions asked about where I bought it or when. 2 days later I had a brand new apple tv and return label.

Good for you, have never had a good experience with their customer service. On four different occassions always crap outcome the best being my ipad 2 5.0 upgrade promised call backs on three occassion when the upgrade deleted all my info and some important docs, that was what five months ago still no call. The store is even worse at least where i live.

@ Crunch - Agree that 10.8 is rock solid. It should be, since it's an evolution of 10.7 which was already very stable.
And we agree with Rene in predicting an ATV update soon after the 2012 iPad launch. Same basic circuit board as the 2012 iPad and presumably the 2012 iPhone (minus the cell phone radio of course). But Apple likes to keep its announcements focused, so it's possible that the 3rd-gen ATV won't be announced together with the new iPad.

I'll get the Apple TV the minute it comes out, assuming 1080p is part of the new version. If the only feature I'll get is AirPlay mirroring with OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, I'm good. With that, all shackles are removed from the Apple TV as far as compatible codecs and container formats are concerned, as you could watch anything and everything, iTunes-compatible notwithstanding and without having to convert ever again, by simply running VLC and streaming your whole OS.
Mountain Lion in its first developer preview is ridiculously stable right now. Since installing it over Lion, I've had 2 apps crash and one other app doesn't work yet on 10.8. The new Safari browser is also smooth as can be and I've never even considered going back to Lion. Mountain Lion + Apple TV 3 will essentially turn the Apple TV 3 into a full-blown gaming console. Game Center is part of OS X 10.8 anyway, though, so Apple seems to want to accomplish exactly that anyway. Sweet days are ahead....
Let's get this iPad 3/Apple TV 3 launch out of the way, so that the "radically re-designed" MacBook Pro's and iMac's can get the full attention by Apple engineers. Retina and IPS please! Then I'll never leave the house again. (seriously, why would I?) :-D

ATV is weak. I have one. Enjoy it ok. But it's lacking in so many ways. Not enough content. Bad interface. Lots of lag. This is a device that didn't get much thought out into it. And don't give me the cop out excuse of it being Apple's "hobby". That's BS. Just as much a load of crap as Siri being released in "beta". Both are half-baked products rushed to market in an effort to make an extra buck.
But I can't wait for AirPlay mirroring to my MBA w Mt Lion. That will change the game for ATV. Should be pretty sweet.

Siri is in beta cause it needs data to come out of beta. If apple kept it out of beta, and just used inhouse data, siri wouldnt even b here. Do u know anything about developing a voice command service? Ddnt think so.

I will buy this on release day if it lets me install apps the way every other Apple device does. I don't mind buying most of my TV from iTunes, but I want the option to be able to get other stuff from other sources without either jailbreaking or Apple deciding what those apps will be.

I've had an Apple TV for years. ALL THIS TIME it has had the potential for apps. It STILL doesn't have apps! If they don't have support for apps I'm going to pass. If they do have support for apps, then HOORAY!
Dear Apple: I'm using Google TV right now because it has apps and a keyboard. Give us apps and support for a keyboard. Every day that goes by, I'm getting more and more integrated into Google infrastructure, and even considering switching to an Android as my main phone.
Apple TV was an innovative leap forward, but now you have watched others pass you by instead of leading the way.